Survey shows one in four schools were victims of cyberattacks in previous year

SAN FRANCISCO – Clever, a digital learning platform, has released research suggesting that one in four schools, and millions of students were affected by cyberattacks last year.

Cybersecure 2023, a survey of 4,000 school administrators and teachers, has compiled a wealth of data on cybercrime targeted at schools over the past year, and how those two groups view those vulnerabilities differently. As a result three out of four polled districts plan to increase spending on security and privacy in the next two to three years, according to the report. While 63 percent of administrators and 53 percent of teachers believe that their district is prepared to take on digital security challenges, one in four teachers report that cybersecurity training is missing altogether in their district.

In 2021 as many as one million students were impacted by up to 67 different ransomware attacks according to the report. Clever estimates a cost of over $3.5 billion in downtime as a result. Teachers and educators agree that the top three things that districts can do to improve their cybersecurity is more training, better technology solutions, and staff focused on technology.

"Creating a safe digital learning environment requires that everyone -- administrators, educators, students -- play a role," said Mohit Gupta, who oversees security products at Clever. "Cybersecurity is a team sport, and the differences highlighted in the survey offer us a path forward to address vulnerabilities in our schools. While the groups differ on where the risks exist, they agree on what can be done: more training for educators, the use of security tools, and increased specialized staff."

The full report can be accessed here.